Judges 19:1-20:48 + John 3:22-4:3 + Psalm 104:24-35 + Proverbs 14:22-23
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Old Testament - Today's readings in Judges 19 about the Levite's concubine being raped and killed really made me tear up today. What a sad story! The evil of the act led to tens of thousands of men dying in battle in chapter 20. Notice the similarities between Judges chapter 19 and Genesis chapter 19? In Genesis chapter 19 two angels arrived in Sodom in the evening and they planned to spend the night in the town square. But Lot insisted they go with him and spend the night at his house. Then, in the middle of the night the men of Sodom came to Lot's house to have sex with the two angels. Lot offered his two virgin daughters instead... see the unfortunate similarities? Social protocol of the time - protecting a house guest at any cost - unfortunately carried more authority in Judges chapter 19 than God's law and moral convictions. Obviously this is an extreme case in Judges chapter 19.... yet, is it possible that in today's world social protocol of our time can sometimes carry more authority than moral convictions? Will we stand tall today and protect someone when this is the case? We will stand up for moral convictions over social protocol today? An image is below for Judges chapter 19 verses 16 & 17 - "That evening an old man came home from his work in the fields. He was from the hill country of Ephraim, but he was living in Gibeah in the territory of Benjamin. When he saw the travelers sitting in the town square, he asked them where they were from and where they were going."
And another image is below for Judges chapter 20 verses 4 through 7 - "The Levite, the husband of the woman who had been murdered, said, "My concubine and I came to Gibeah, a town in the land of Benjamin, to spend the night. That night some of the leaders of Gibeah surrounded the house, planning to kill me, and they raped my concubine until she was dead. So I cut her body into twelve pieces and sent the pieces throughout the land of Israel, for these men have committed this terrible and shameful crime. Now then, the entire community of Israel must decide what should be done about this!""
New Testament - Wow... I love John the Baptist's words about Jesus in John chapter 3 today! Great stuff. Please read these verses again and meditate upon them in your life today. The verse that really stood out to me today was verse 30 when John said this about Jesus - "He must become greater and greater, and I must become less and less." How very true and how very applicable to our lives today. We must let Jesus become greater and greater in our lives, hearts, and actions, and our individualism / selfishness must become less and less. How are you doing on this? Are you allowing Jesus to become greater and greater in your life and are "you" becoming less and less?
Bible.org's commentary on John chapter 3's readings today titled "John's Joy and his Disciples Jealousy" is at this link.
Psalms - Today we finish up Psalm 104, which we started yesterday. I mentioned in yesterday's post, that this is a great Psalm of praising God's creation. And indeed it is. What I didn't realize yesterday, but I picked up today, is that this Psalm overall goes through Genesis 1 and the story of creation. Not quite in the same order of creation, or the same details. But, essentially this Psalm is a retelling of Genesis 1. Below is a wonderful piece of art from Pat Marvenko Smith titled "The Creation" - you'll note this piece shows all 6 days of creation and what was created on each day, going from the left to the right:
Art used by permission by Pat Marvenko Smith, copyright 1992.
To order prints visit her "Revelation Illustrated" site.
I love Psalm 104 verse 33 today - "I will sing to the LORD as long as I live. I will praise my God to my last breath!" I so pray that this verse will be true for both you and me. I pray we will sing to God as long as we live. I pray we will praise God to our very last breath. And in particular at our very last breath I pray we are praising God!
Proverbs - Proverbs verse 14 chapter 22 is awesome - "If you plan good, you will be granted unfailing love and faithfulness." Great stuff! And so true.
Worship Video: Today's readings in Psalm 104 remind me of Bebo Norman's fantastic song "I Will Lift My Eyes:"
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SZ9bLnyIEyw
Are you looking at God? Click here and lift your eyes!
Please join us in memorizing and meditating on a verse of Scripture today: "He (Jesus) must become greater; I must become less." John 3:30 NIV
Prayer Point: Pray that Jesus is becoming greater and greater in your life day by day and that you are becoming less and less. Pray for more of Jesus and for less of you.
Comments from You & Questions of the Day: Based on today's Proverb, do you plan good in your life? Do you consciously think of ways you can bless others? Do you love others well? Do you surprise others with grace? Often? Do you believe that if you plan good, you will be granted unfailing love and faithfulness? Also, what verses or insights stand out to you in today's readings? Please post up by clicking on the "Comments" link below!
God bless,
Mike
p.s. Download our monthly Small Group study notes for our Bible readings at this link.
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BLOG READERS HISTORICAL COMMUNITY COMMENTS:
Judges 19:1-20:48
Israel had moved the bar, the bar of righteousness, the bar that set boundaries, the bar that said, “This is sin.” You have a Levite that has a concubine and as the text states, was unfaithful to him. First question, “What is a Levite doing with a concubine that is a loose woman?” As per Moses’ directive, Levites were supposed to keep the Law so that they could teach the Law. The bar/standard was lowered.
When Israel masses itself to fight this “horrid” sin, the bar has been set so low that the “sin” they all are living in is not even a blip on their radar screen. The outrage is a culmination of outrages acts on the other side of that bar that has been lowered almost to the ground. I’ve heard people say, and I’ve said it myself at one time or another, “I wouldn’t do that,” or “Even I wouldn’t do that,” as if our or my personal behavior or standard was “IT.” I know that it is not. I think we do this, consciously or sub-consciously, to distance ourselves from our sin, the “white lie,” syndrome. God has stated that when we break one Law we have broken them all; but, we insist that we are not as bad as that guy or gal over there or across the street. Yes we are.
In those days there was no king in Israel, but every man did that which was right in his own eyes. (Judges 17:6 KJV)
When we do what is right in our own eyes, we have set ourselves up as God which was and is the sin of Satan. There are only two kingdoms on the earth, The Kingdom of God and the Kingdom of Satan; which one do we say we are in and which one are we really in? As Children of God, are we trespassing in the wrong Kingdom? Or, can we be citizens of the Kingdom of Satan trying to pass ourselves off as children of the Light? And worse yet, do we, like this Levite, play our sin off in such a way that we share the outrages consequences of our actions as if it just fell out of the sky into a innocent lifestyle getting everyone upset enough to call a prayer meeting to do “spiritual warfare?” Hmmmm!
Grace and peace,
Ramona
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Could the father of the concubine have been trying to get the Levite to spend 7days with his daughter so he could claim it was a wedding?Just a thought.The Levite lied to Israel,he didn't mention that he had sent his concubine to the benjamites,he just said they raped her.What a horrible time for women it was,to be raped to death to protect a guest.God allowed heavy casulaties on both side.It must have broken his heart to see depraved Israel fighting each other.
Without God man becomes really demonic.Only satan can cause the degradation of humanity today as we see it and we let it happen.What must have started out as falling in love with the wrong person became a sick stronghold of lust.How can a whole gathering of men take pleasure in torturing a woman...it all started with a single uncontrolled lusty thought.
Reading Ramona's post about the youth leader's in a lustful relationship,I again remember the need to fear God.How can you lead God's children while obviously giving tribute to the devil with your life.It's mocking God to His face!Sadly it happens often:pastors having adulterous relationships with their secretaries while going for out of town conferences,leaders preying on their followers all in the name of "I fell in love",worshippers supposedly worshiping God in public while worshipping the devil in private...Even non belivers see the earthquakes,pestilence,floods,wars and know the end is near.Will Christ find any faith left among his flock?
Whoever believes in the Son has eternal life, but whoever rejects the Son will not see life, for God's wrath remains on him.
If you believe that arsenic is poison,you will not even taste something that looks really delicious when you it part of it's ingredient is arsenic.We all know what God says about the relationship between a man and a woman(just an example)can we really say we believe in Jesus when we stray from his teachings.We believe yet we act contrary to his teachings?May God open our eyes to the devices of the devil and may we constantly allow the Holy Spirit search our hearts lest we deceive ourselves.
God bless you all
Anka
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Judges shows how bad it gets when people turn away from fearing God. Even the man who gave his concubine to the worthless men, then rallies everyone to fight doesn't tell the whole story. Look at the way he just talks to her when she is dead on the doorstep. Everyone in this story is a depraved sinner.
Kristie
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Our last Sundaymorning Biblestudies have been about overcropping (premature exhaustion?). It was the first thing I thought about while I was reading todays verse from Proverbs. 1.) We have to give God the chance to make the changes in our hearts 2.) We have to plan well. If we TRY to do good in our lives, if we TRY to love others well, if we TRY to suprise others with grace, in the long run we will get exhausted if we do it all on our own energy. We have to let God work on our hearts, so we don't have to TRY so hard ourselves. Okay ... do I make sense here? I'm really trying to translate the notes I made in the Biblestudy. The thing is that we want to do the right thing everywhere: for God, in church, at work, in our relationships (marriage, the children, friendships etc). So in order to see everything clear, we have to plan well. So in the first place give things in God hands and in the second place, plan well ourselves. So yes, I really love todays Proverb "If you plan good, you will be granted unfailing love and faithfulness." Indeed: so true!!
Mae
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Psalm 104
I really like how this Psalm raises the tackles the topic of Ecology. We are asked to have a right relationship with God, with one another and with creation. That way we are nurtured by and feed into a full and holistic spirituality. If we seek earth’s beauty and ask for forgiveness for the ways in which we participate in the destruction of this holy creation we are practicing God’s Ecology.
I have trouble joining those “save the trees” groups because I am a business man and love development. I do think the two can live in harmony but it is a delicate balance. I just have to watch some National Geographic documentary and realize how beautiful God made this world. I pray I can be sensitive to how God wants to go about his re-creation and be a positive part in that.
Judges 19:1
“In those days Israel had no king.” This statement also found in 17:6, 8:1 and 21:25 links Judges to a future time when there was a king. It is preparation for the Monarchy and it has been suggested that it is a low-key apology for the Davidic Monarchy. Old Testament Survey by Bush. Page 164.
Robert
The sin of the Levites, the similarities of Genesis and Judges 19. All in a nutshell..sin is abundant and it is not much different from today's age.
People get so complacent and jaded with crime and heartache..it desensitized humans and I know makes the Lord so sad.
John..I love the heart of John. And like John I pray I have a heart like his. For the Lord to increase and I to decrease.
Psalm..again going back to Genesis and creation. I love how the verses parallel one another.
Proverbs 14..do I plan good in my life. I try to..I try to be kind to others, love one another be good to each other help..pray for others try my best to not talk about or hurt another..not perfect but that is my aim daily.
Dee
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The story in judges today fills me with the deepest sadness. It is such a sad fact that some men simply by putting their own wants and comfort before that of their wives and children destroy them, then just step over their bodies in discust. It seems hypocricy to me for the Levite to afterwards get all righteous about what was done - where was his righteousness the night he sent his concubine out in place of himself? It is selfishness that destroys marriage. And the ripple effects spread out to the children, the wider family, and the community until many lives are lost.
Show me a man who loves his wife, and you will see a man who loves God.
The ripple effect of loving your wife as chirst loved the church, blesses the wife, blesses the children, the wider family and the community.
Our own homes are the first and most important places where Jesus love should be a reality, anything less is utter hypocrisy.
Emma
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Judges 19:1-20:48 - I feel sad reading the brutal and barbaric actions, throwing the concubine to the wolves to save the Levite, the revenge by the Israelites against the Benjamites. What is sadder is that these barbaric actions still exist today. How many times do we right the wrong by doing the wrong thing as well, or sacrificing the innocent (sex trafficking, transporting slave labor, etc) for our own welfare.
John 3:22-4:3 - John knew his calling "to prepare the way of the Lord". He was humble accepting his role in God's great scheme for our salvation. At times we (I) forget who and why we (I) are serving God and others. Is it for our own glorification or is it for the glory of God's kingdom?
Proverbs 14:23 - I believe we should work hard on everything we do as if we are working directly for Go. As the saying goes "All talk and no work makes Jack a dull boy" .
God bless.
Lily
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Judges 19: 1-20:48
What exactly is a concubine? What is the difference between being a concubine and a wife? I note that the passage describes the Levite as her husband.
What struck me most was the fact that they sought God and obeyed his instructions, even though they appeared to fail, and life was lost by obeying God. Obeying God does not always immediately give us 'success' and can come with a high price.
Also, Israel intensified the way they sought God, adding fasting and sacrifices to their pleadings and seeking of God. Did God give them victory because of this or not do you think?
Also the third time they seek him, God does not give them specific instructions about how to defeat the Benjaminites, but seems to bless their natural wisdom and military strategy. Some times God gives us a general instruction and expects us to use the wisdom and abilities he has already given us. When the Lord is with us he makes our steps steady and sure wherever they go.
This passage has encouraged me because I feel that I am following God's leading at the moment but things are getting worse not better. But I'll hold on to God's command until I see victory!
Esther
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"For He whom God has sent speaks the words of God; for He gives the Spirit without measure.
"The Father loves the Son and has given all things into His hand.
"He who believes in the Son has eternal life; but he who does not obey the Son will not see life, but the wrath of God abides on him." John 3:34-36
I was pretty impressed today by John the Baptist's grasp of the Trinity and God's plan for salvation. Considering how clueless the disciples were and they spent all their time with Jesus, but here John lays it all out so clearly. This is evidence of the Holy Spirit. After reading through the sick sad story in Judges today, it was so refreshing to see someone so close to the heart of God.
Teriann
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Great knowledge from John today. 'A person can receive only what is given him from heaven'. Jesus himself said that John was the greatest prophet ever to live, yet John didn't seem to get an ego about this. I wish this was so easy. I believe that pride is by far the most destructive sin among men. I'm praying one of the blessings of heaven will be the utter absence of human egos. Then perhaps we will be able to see clearly.
Briggs
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